01.07.04

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebrews 10:24-25 NKJV.

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. - Matthew 18:20 NKJV.

During one week in 1984, God brought a passage of Scripture to my attention three separate times. He first brought it to my attention during my quiet time, then during Sunday School, and then in the pastor’s message. I had no doubt that God was speaking to me and it was this same passage of Scripture that God brought to my attention some seven years later in my quiet time confirming His call upon my life. I would never have experienced a spiritual break out without regular church attendance. Being in church for every opportunity of worship, fellowship and learning is vital to being where God can speak clearly to your heart.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon is often called the Prince of Preachers (1834 - 1892) and perhaps was the foremost preacher of the 19^th Century. In 1861 Spurgeon’s congregation built the Metropolitan Tabernacle which had seating for 4,700 people. Also in 1861, Spurgeon preached at the Crystal Palace in London to a crowd of 23,654. But Spurgeon would never have been saved, or heard God’s call, if he had not been a determined church attender. Here is how he tells the story in his own words of the day of his salvation: “I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people’s heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache. The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach.” It was during a snow storm so bad that the pastor was not even able to come to church that Spurgeon heard God speak to him through a faithful servant who did make it to church that day, and reluctantly shared God’s Word as best He could. The impact of Spurgeon’s ministry is still being felt and will be for all eternity. The church made it possible, and facilitated the spiritual break out of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

The church is not man’s idea; it is God’s idea and plan. There is no getting around the fact that it is God’s will and plan for you to be in church every time the doors are open (If you are physically able and are not providentially hindered in some way.). How much does God desire this? Jesus died for the church. The church is the body of Christ on this earth, all those who have received Jesus as their Savior. If you want to break out spiritually the church must be part of the plan. Thank God for the church!!